Social Media Best Practices

What does my school, program or organization hope to accomplish through social media?

Outline your goals to track your ROI.

Think strategically about creating new accounts; don’t jump in without a plan.

Who is my target audience and what channels are they using?

Depending on your audience and goals, not all channels may be necessary. Concentrate
your efforts on building your audience before starting a new channel.

Do I have the resources available to regularly update and maintain this social media
channel?

Running an account goes beyond posting. Do you have the time to engage and inform
your audience? If not, consider a collaborative promotion with established accounts.

Some channels require more frequent updates.

Creating an Account

Consult marketing contact within school, program or organization.

Make sure the account you're planning is in line with overall goals.

Create a strategy

Work through the following:

Primary Goals

Measuring success – How you plan to measure your Primary Goals; make sure you have
the tools available to measure.

Audience

Current Conversation – See what people in your field are saying, what channels they
are using and how often they are posting content.

Content – Determine the type of content you plan to post based on platform and available
content.

Identify manager

If a Grad Assistant or student is running the account, a permanent LSU faculty or
staff member must also have access to the account.

Name your account

When possible, use LSU within your name to designate as an official account (ex: @financeLSU).

Try to keep account names short, especially on Twitter where every character counts.
If abbreviation is necessary, stick to only well-known ones.

On Facebook, stick to official names only

Overall branding of page

The degree to which LSU is able to apply its brand identity varies greatly between
each channel. To the extent possible, the following items should be included when
customizing a department’s social media presence:

The official LSU logo should be used when possible. This provides credibility to the
account by making it recognizable as an official account.

The LSU logo may only appear in the official LSU colors: Purple, Gold, Black, White
and Gray. The logo should be used at 100 percent saturation; fading or tinting is
not allowed. No drop shadows or gradients should be applied.

Within the department’s social media profile, LSU should be referred to as “Louisiana
State University” or “LSU.” The university should never be referred to as Louisiana
State, LSU-Baton Rouge, L.S.U., or other aliases different from the acceptable references
listed.

When customizing the layout of the departments in a social media service, use the
official LSU purple and gold whenever that level of customization is available, otherwise
a neutral, gray color palette should be used.

All accounts used for official LSU communications must be associated with an @lsu.edu
address. Secondary or departmental email accounts that multiple users have access
to are preferred over personal accounts.

Facebook is an exception to this rule as user accounts are given access to a company
page. On this channel, it’s advised to have at least two administrators.

Be sure to completely fill out account information, including website and any biography
section.

Complete your channel with profile images, it’s suggested to use an official LSU logo,
and cover or background images.

Posting Content

Post content regularly

Keep in mind some channels, like Twitter, require more frequent updates than others

If you are unable to post regularly, reevaluate social media channel choice

A few things to keep in mind:

Keep posts short, relevant and engaging

Keep in mind audience when posting. Will they find this content interesting?

When is my audience likely to be online?

Regularly monitor posts for opportunities for engagement and questions from followers

Use available insights and analytics tools. Twitter and Facebook have free options
available for measuring post success.

Please remember any post from an LSU username is a direct reflection on the university.
These should not be treated as personal accounts.

Content should not reflect personal views

Events, fundraisers, giveaways, etc. not related to an LSU college, department or
auxiliary should not be featured on affiliated LSU social media.

Social Media in a Crisis Situation

To ensure correct and unified messaging, social media managers are encouraged to share
official, unaltered LSU Emergency Operations Center (EOC) messages with the exception
of closures or specific department information. In the event of Internet connectivity
issues, contact the EOC at 578-3231 for assistance in updating social media.